Baruch Field, on the Lower East Side, was infested with
Zombies on Saturday and even worse for fellows like Vernon Dursley, Quidditch
Players! I gave the factual information on this horrifying event on Sunday and
Monday, as the news was breaking, but now, I can give you 2 first hand accounts
on the NYC Zombie/Inferi Tournament. Jonathon R is the Badassilisks' GM, a role
in which he deals with technology, logistics, marketing, tournaments, and travel
arrangements of the New York Community team, and Irvin K is one of the four
original Badassilisks.
When I first heard of the "Zombie/Inferi
Tournament" my first question was how did you come up with the idea for
the Zombie theme and why? Jonathon explained, "The Zombie Tournament came
from my love of Zombie crawls and my desire to get more spectator involvement
in Quidditch. Many tournaments have had problems getting people outside the
teams friends and families from attending." Jonathon is also the head
organizer of the New York Harry Potter meetup a group closely linked with the
Badassilisks since their founding. To engage members, Jonathon tries to come up
with unique ideas that demonstrate great "creativity and enthusiasm."
Look for future Badassilisk tournament to have more cool themes! Jonathon
helped ZombieNYC and ActionVance FX with Zombie makeup for tournament
participants. Checkout pictures here.
Now on to
the games. Hofstra was the favorite coming out of pool play after beating
Macauley by 60 points and the eventual Champion Badassilisks by 80 points.
"Hofstra was widely considered the favorite to win the tournament - their
offensive game... proved too much for us in the end," says Irvin, a two
year Badassilisk veteran. While Hofstra dominated Quaffle play, Vassar won with
Beaters and Seekers. After Vassar's "well renown" Beaters held the
Badassilisks to 30 points, Vassar's Seeker, Matt Zeltzer won the game on a
snatch, 50*-30. Hofstra's high powered offense and Vassar's D would meet later
on in the Semifinals.
Newbies,
the Honey Badgers defeated Stony Brook and Macauley before losing to the
Badassilisks in bracket play. Also, NYU lost to Stony Brook and Vassar before losing again to Vassar in the quarterfinalsAfter intense quarterfinals, including an 100-60
overtime win for Macauley over Stony Brook, there were only four teams left:
New York, Macauley, Hofstra and Vassar. Irvin describes the semifinal against
Macaulay, (we tried to) "open up the field and focus on defense, and it
worked. Even though we shut them out
80-0, every single goal was hard-earned, and it was a great match." The Badassilisks
practice with Macauley, so knowing their style, they were able to come up with
a game plan that successfully exposed Macaulay's weakness.
Now, we
come to Offensive Minded Hofstra and Defensive Minded Vassar. Irvin and the Badassilisks got to watch, "The game
lasted FOREVER, with neither side giving an inch." After 10 minutes, only
one goal had been scored. However, Hofstra began to pull ahead but Vassar was
able to keep Hofstra's lead below 30 so when David Gonzalez, another one of Vassar's seekers, made the snatch, they won and advanced to the championship to play the
Badassilisks.
As many
matches between the elite in Quidditch do, the NYC Zombie final match came down to who would
catch the snitch. Strategic Beater play from Vassar was able to hold the
Badassilisks' Seekers off for a while, but eventually the number of
Badassilisks substitutes wore out Matt and Badassilisk Seeker, Walter
"broke through Vassar's beaters" with a snatch to win the
championship. "This is the first tournament the Badassilisks have ever won
in their two-year history - as one of four original players left, that meant
the world to me," says Irvin.
If you
plan on hosting or attending or competing in a Quidditch tournament, do as the
New Yorkers do, because the way Irvin describes it, the NYC Zombie/Inferi
Tournament sounded perfect. "On the whole, it was a great tournament all
around. It was also a surprisingly even
tournament, all the teams were really nice and friendly, and played
cleanly. And when we weren't playing, we
were having lots of zombie fun. A lot of
us were zombified and blood-splattered."
The
whimsical/competitive argument has come up a lot in recent months and I think
the New York Badassilisks are a great example of how the two types from the
Quidditch community can coexist. The whole idea for the tournament is kind of
"whimsical" and it definitely shows creativity and the goal of the
themed tournament was to enhance the community and then, those same creative,
community minded people, went out and won the competition. For those who don't
know, creativity, community, and competition are the three principles that the
IQA states on their About page. Quidditch needs the Creative side to enhance
the community and to keep the community interested, gameplay has to be at a
high level. But what attracts community in the first place is creativity and
"whimsical"-ness. You see, to survive, Quidditch needs both whimsy and
competition. The New York Badassilisks are a perfect example of this and I
congratulate you on your tournament win and your win for the quidditch
community.
